Beading and/or screw-threading machine head, for metal caps used for stoppering containers having a pouring mouth

ABSTRACT

A head for a machine used in beading and screw-threading metal caps slipped on the screw-threaded neck of a container (e.g. a bottle) is disclosed, in which the annular cam of the prior art machine has been sub-divided into sector-like cam portions so as to render adjustable the pressure imparted by each of the levers controlled by the cam individually. Stated alternatively, each cam sector controls a lever independently of the others, so that accuracy is improved and the machine is more readily adapted to possible unevennesses of the container&#39;&#39;s neck.

[ Nov. 13, 1973 United States Patent Bertario [54] BEADING AND/OR SCREW-THREADING 1,452,410 4/1923 Boucher................................ 53/340 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS MACHINE HEAD, FOR METAL CAPS USED FOR STOPPERING CONTAINERS HAVING A POURING MOUTH 944,323 12/1963 Great Britain..................... 53/334 F [75] Inventor: Luigi Bertario, Milan, Italy Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee [73] Alluminio Mauceri Borghetto S.p.A., Assistant Exammer Horace Culver Att0rneyCushman et al. Milan, Italy Assignee:

[57] ABSTRACT A head for a machine used in beading and screw- [22] Filed: Nov. 10, 1971 App]. No.: 197,203

I threading metal caps slipped on the screw-threaded [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 11,1970 H Italy.......

neck of a container (e.g. a bottle) is disclosed, in which the annular cam of the prior art machine has been sub-divided into sector-like cam portions so as to render adjustable the pressure imparted by each of the levers controlled by the cam individually. Stated alternatively, each cam sector controls a lever independently of the others, so that accuracy is improved and the machine is more readily adapted to possible unevennesses of the containers neck.

C im D awin vIfsures, V.

2,507,427 Underwood 3,537,231 Dimond 2,765,608 Ford et al.

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PATENTEURUV 13 1975 SHEET 1 CF 2 BEADING AND/OR SCREW-THREADING MACHINE HEAD, FOR METAL CAPS USED FOR STOPPERING CONTAINERS HAVING A POURING MOUTH This invention relates to a head for a beading and/or screw-threading machine for metal caps intended to be used for containers having a pouring mouth, for example for a machine of the kind disclosed and illustrated in the Italian Patent specification No. 589,347.

The machine constructed according to the above mentioned Patent comprises a platform equipped with uprights, along which a bracket is allowed to slide. The bracket can be set at any preselected level and carries a beading and screw-threading head, along with a motor for the actuation thereof. Such a beading and screw-threading head comprises, in turn, a rotary body as actuated by said motor and which is adapted to drive to rotation a body coaxially mounted with respect thereto. The body being axially slidable with respect to the rotary body first named and carrying a centering bottom member which is bound thereto for axial sliding motion, but not for rotation. It is brought into pressural contact with the head of the stopper cap to be beaded and screw-threaded (the cap having already been positioned onto the mouth of the container for which it is intended). Resilient means biases the axial sliding motion between said rotary body and the body coaxial therewith, as caused by the reaction of the cap to the pressure imparted thereon by the bottom member. The coaxial body aforementioned carries, moreover, at least two members which are adapted to carry out the beading and/or the screw-threading operations on the cap. These members consist of as many rollers (at least the screw threading roller is axially movable in order to follow the screw-thread of the container mouth) as carried by respective levers which are fulcrumed on the coaxial body. The levers are, respectively acted upon, by virtue of said mutual axial sliding motion between the rotary body and the body coaxial therewith, in such a direction as to radially press said rollers against the outside wall of the cap. An annular cam is rotatable as an entity with said rotary body and can slide axially thereon against the bias of a spring which urges the cam in such a direction as to come into engagement with said levers.

The most serious problem among those met in such a machine is in connection with the necessity of having the beading and screw-threading members acting on the cap with the most suitable pressure for the work to be carried out. This pressure should obviously be varied as a function of the dimensions of the container mouth and the cap and the more or less uneven structure of the mouth and/or the cap walls.

According to the prior art patent aforementioned, it has been attempted to solve the problem by making adjustable the spring which acts upon the annular cam and by imparting to the cam a small transverse clearance which permits it to adapt the pressures as imparted by the beading and screw-threading members to possible unevennesse of the container mouth and the stopper cap walls. This approach, however, affords only very small pressure variations which, in addition, are mutually dependent rather than independent from one another for the individual heading and screw threading members, as would be desirable in order to have all these members pressing, simultaneously, with the most appropriate pressure force. The latter drawback is, obviously, the more serious. The morenumerous the beading and screw-threading members, which equip the machine head, especially when said members are more than three in number, is a case in which even the transverse clearance of the cam is devoid even of the slightest self-adjusting capacity.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a wide possibility of adjustment, which is independent for the several beading and screw-threading members.

Such an object is attained, according to this invention, by replacing the single annular cam urged by a single spring, with as many cam sectors as there are beading and screw-threading members to be controlled, and by equipping each cam sector with a biassing resilient members of its own, which can be independently adjusted.

By so doing, obviously, it is possible independently to adjust, within the widest possible range, the pressure imparted by every individual member to the stopper cap wall.

The features of the present invention will be better understood by having reference to the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof. Such a detailed disclosure, which is given herein by way of example only, will refer to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line [-1 of FIG. 3, of ahead for a beading and a screwthreading machine which embodies the principles of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line ll-ll of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1.

Having now reference to the drawings, these show a head for a beading and screw-threading machine for metal stopper caps for a container (not shown) which has been previously provided with a screw-threaded mouth. The machine head comprises an outer bush 1 which is rotated about its own vertical and longitudinal axis by a sheave 2 affixed to the bush. The sheave receiving its drive from an appropriate motor (not shown in the drawings) and being rotatable on an inner bush 3 with the intermediary of a bearing 4. Between'the bushes 1 and 3, there is, slidably housed, a further intermediate bush 5 which is rotatably integral with the bush 1 by means of the screw 6, inserted in an axial groove 7 formed in the bush 1.

To the bush 5 there is affixed a coaxial annular body 8 which is rotated, integrally with the bush, on a bushing 9 to which it is connected by two bearings 10 and 11 which connect the two bodies 8 and 9 integrally for axial displacements but not for rotation. The bush 9 is keyed to a shaft 16 whose lower end carries a bottom plunger 12 which is adapted to act upon the top of a stopper cap. This operation occurs when the latter is positioned on the mouth of the container which is to be stoppered and is introduced into the interior of the machine head through a bore 13 formed through a plate 14 affixed to the annular body 8 by uprights 15 by virtue of a lowering movement imparted to the machine head by an appropriate motor (not shown). The shaft 16 can slide within the inner bush 3 against the bias of a spring 17 which tends to oppose the insertion of the shaft 16 into the bush. A key 18, affixed to the bush 3 and housed in an axial groove 19 of the shaft 16 makes the latter shaft not rotatable but only axially slidable with respect to the bush 3.

To the annular rotatable body 8 there are fulcrumed by means of pivots 20, two diametrically opposite levers 21, and, by the agency of the pins 22, two diametrically opposite levers 23 which are placed 90 degress with respect to the levers 21 (FIG. 3). Each lever 21 carries at the top a roller 27 having a horizontal axis, and, at the bottom, a roller 28 having an almost vertical axis the roller 28 comprises an inner stem 29 on which is integrally mounted a bushing 30, the latter guides, against the bias of a spring 31, the axial displacements of an outer cylinder 32 having a annular projection 33 placed in registry with the bottom end of the cylinder. A top roller 34 having a horizontal axis and a bottom roller 35 having an almost vertical axis, which is similar to the rollers 28 and, comprises an inner stem 36 on which is integrally mounted a bushing 37 to guide, against the bias of a spring 38, the axial displacements of a cylinder 39 equipped with a midway annular protrusion 40.

The levers 21 and 23 are urged towards the inactive position as shown in FIG. 1 by the respective bars 41 and 42 biassed by their respective springs 43 and 44 out of cavities formed in the annular body 8. Against the bias of said springs 43 and 44, there are, intended to act when the body 8 is lifted by the thrust imparted by the stopper cap due to the slidable bottom plunger 12 as the head is lowered towards its active position, four cam sectors 45 which are set 90 degress angularly apart from each other so as to act, each, on the respective rollers 27 and 34 carried by the levers 21 and 23. Every one of the cam sectors 45 is housed in an axially slid able manner in an inner axial cavity 46 of a peripheral projection 47 of the bush 1, to which it is bound by the engagement of a projecting screw 48 in an axial groove 49 of same bush. A spring 50 which biases the cam sector 45 and a threaded bush 51 screwed on the cavity 46 urges the cam sector towards the position of maximum protrusion from the cavity 46, as defined by the reaction between the screw 48 and the bottom end of the groove 49.

The operation of the machine head as shown in the drawings is the following: an appropriate motor (not shown) controls the rotation of the sheave 2 and the simultaneous downward motion of the entire machine head towards the container mouth to which the stopper cap to be beaded and screw-threaded has been applied. The rotation of the sheave 2 causes a similar rotation of the bushing 1, of the intermediate bushing and the annular body 8 with its assembly of levers 21 and 23 and the relevant rollers 28 and 35 as maintained in the spread-apart position of FIG. 1, by the springs 43 and 44. As the downward motion of the machine head goes on, the container mouth and the stopper cap pass through the flared bore 13, so that the top of the cap acts upon the plunger 12 (which has the function of positioning and centering between the machine head and the stopper cap) by urging the plunger upwards and causing the shaft 16 to be housed within the interior of the bushing 3, against the bias of the spring 17. The axial engagement between the bushing 9 and the annular body 8 causes a similar lifting of the latter, so that the cam sectors 45 (which are urged downwards by vers 21 and 23 about their respective pivots 20 and 22, the result being that the rollers 28 and 35 approach the sides of the stopper cap. By properly adjusting, the screw-threaded bushings 51, the thrust of the spings 50 is adjusted and it is possible to have the rollers 28 and 35 acting upon the cap with the pressure forces which are individually the most suitable ones. At the same time, the steep side of the cam sectors 45 enables the rollers 28 and 35 to adapt themselves, independently of one another, to possible discontinuities of the cap and- /or the mouth walls. The rollers 28 can thus perform a fully satisfactory beading of the bottom end of the stoppering cap, whereas the rollers 35 carry out, by following the annular projections 40, the screw threads of the container mouth, a fully satisfactory screw-threading of the intermediate portion of the stoppering cap. Possibly, a further adjustment of the pressure imparted by the rollers 28 and 35 can also be obtained by varying the length, the head shape or the initial position of the cam sectors 45.

It should be noticed that reference has always been had herein to metal caps, to whose screw-threading and/or beading the machine according to the invention is intended to provide: as a matter of fact, the stoppering caps could also be not entirely metallic, but, for example they could merely incorporate metal portions, possibly embedded in a plastics material, for the portions to be screw-threaded and/or beaded. Thus, the term metal caps should be construed in a comprehensive way so as to encompass also the case of caps which are only partially metallic.

In addition, it should also be noticed that, even though reference has been had hereinbefore to a machine head which is moved so as to approach the container mouth fitted with a cap blank, the case is also possible of a container mouth which is moved towards the machine head. Also this approach should be obviously intended as being encompassed within the scope and the objects of this invention.

I claim:

1. A head for a beading and/or screw-threading machine used on stopper caps that are located on containers having a pouring mouth comprising:

a body;

a rotary body, the body and said rotary body being coaxial with and axially slidable relative to each other, said rotary body rotating the body;

a plunger connected to the body for non-rotatable sliding and for contacting the stopper caps as the head is controllably relatively moved towards the stopper cap for causing the body to axially slide relative to said rotary body;

a biasing means for biasing the body against the relative axial sliding thereof as said plunger contacts the stopper cap;

a plurality of members carried by the body for beading and/or screw-threading;

a plurality of levers each one of which is connected to a respective one of the plurality of members and is fulcrumed on the body so as to have a horizontal pivot axis, the plurality of levers being efiective for moving each of the members so that the members radially contact and press the side walls of the stopper cap, a plurality of cam means being rotatable with said rotary body and axially slidable thereon for engagement with each of the levers;

formed by and parallel to said rotating body, each of said resilient means is a spring which urges each of said cam means out of said cavity to a position of maximum protrusion from said cavity, and each of said adjustment means comprises a screw-threaded pin threadedly inserted into said cavity wherein said spring is inserted between each of said cam means and said screwthreaded pin. 

1. A head for a beading and/or screw-threading machine used on stopper caps that are located on containers having a pouring mouth comprising: a body; a rotary body, the body and said rotary body being coaxial with and axially slidable relative to each other, said rotary body rotating the body; a plunger connected to the body for non-rotatable sliding and for contacting the stopper caps as the head is controllably relatively moved towards the stopper cap for causing the body to axially slide relative to said rotary body; a biasing means for biasing the body against the relative axial sliding thereof as said plunger contacts the stopper cap; a plurality of members carried by the body for beading and/or screw-threading; a plurality of levers each one of which is connected to a respective one of the plurality of members and is fulcrumed on the body so as to have a horizontal pivot axis, the plurality of levers being effective for moving each of the members so that the members radially contact and press the side walls of the stopper cap, a plurality of cam means being rotatable with said rotary body and axially slidable thereon for engagement with each of the levers; a plurality of resilient means urging each of the plurality of cam means into engagement with each of the levers in response to the body''s axially sliding relative to said rotary body; and a plurality of adjustment means each of which is operatively connected to each of the resilient means for providing independent and accurate control of the movement of each of the levers.
 2. The machine head according to claim 1, wherein each of said cam means is slidably housed in a cavity formed by and parallel to said rotating body, each of said resilient means is a spring which urges each of said cam means out of said cavity to a position of maximum protrusion from said cavity, and each of said adjustment means comprises a screw-threaded pin threadedly inserted into said cavity wherein said spring is inserted between each of said cam means and said screw-threaded pin. 